Louis Vuitton Seoul Dosan: Chung Serang, literature and travel in a reading space
A recent salon connected short fiction, reading aloud and travel objects. La Bibliothèque extends the theme through books and a café; the account looks back at an event.
Louis Vuitton Seoul Dosan store recently hosted a literary salon combining travel and literature with the concept of La Bibliothèque reading.
Novelist Chung Serang participated in the reading, which was connected with the short story creation project related to the 130th anniversary of the birth of the brand Monogram, allowing bags, movement and text to be re-understood in the same space.
Cover image: 김태민／Vogue Korea
Display of books and objects at Louis Vuitton Seoul Dosan store. Image: 김태민／Vogue KoreaChung Serang participated in a public salon dialogue. Image: 김태민／Vogue Korea
How can travel objects become the starting point of a story?
The project invites novelists and poets to create creations based on the characteristics of Speedy, Keepall, Noé, Alma and Neverfull bags.
Objects not only carry luggage, but can also elicit relationships between movement, architecture, daily life and people, allowing familiar products to depart from mere comparison of specifications.
When reading this kind of work, you can first use the brand background as a starting point, and then see how the story unfolds on its own.
The space of literature lies in characters and language, and every paragraph does not need to return to the commodity; objects provide clues and do not need to determine all reading directions.
Chung Serang and Alma, let architectural memory come into reading
Chung Serang uses Alma and its architectural connections in Paris as the entrance to her writing, and reads out her work in the salon.
When words pass from paper to sound, pauses, rhythm and stress become another way of seeing, allowing the same piece of content to be received through more than just the eyes.
For those who are familiar with the author, reading aloud can provide tone clues; for those who are new to the author, they can also start to get to know the author from the short stories.
Reviews of public events present experiences at that time and do not mean that readers can still sign up for the same event or receive the same gifts now.
Readers and texts in public reading events. Image: 김태민／Vogue Korea
La Bibliothèque, turning the store into a slower space
The Dosan store extends the concept of reading with bookshelves, books and stationery displays, and books-related visuals are also added to the facade and interior.
Products, text and space are no longer independent, allowing people to spend more time watching besides shopping.
La Bibliothèque concept space in Dosan store. Image: 김태민／Vogue Korea
However, the function of the conceptual space is different from that of a public library, and the actual readable content, stay methods and open areas should still be subject to on-site arrangements.
If the main purpose is to see a specific display, you can first confirm whether the concept is still there and whether there are any adjustments to the activities that day before departure.
Coffee and desserts extend the visual clues of the book
The public review also mentioned the coffee space on the second floor, as well as desserts shaped like books, envelopes, etc. They allow the theme to extend from the bookshelf to the desktop, but the design image and the actual supply are two different things, and the content of the event day cannot be directly used as a daily fixed menu.
If you like this combination, you can first decide whether you care more about reading, space or dining, and then arrange your stay.
You don’t have to complete all the items in one visit to understand how the store connects the themes from one detail.
Signatures and books at public readings. Image: 김태민／Vogue Korea
Reading activities turn travel from destination to experience
The salon discussion also connected travel and creation: going to a place in person may turn the atmosphere, sound and water into memories, but they may not necessarily turn into works immediately.
For the general reader, bringing a book and jotting down an observation can also give travel more than just a shopping list.
What this Seoul reading scene provides is a way for brand objects and literature to open up to each other.
If you look step by step from the bag stories, the reading voice to the spatial arrangement, you can understand that traveling is not only about where you arrive, but also about how to re-experience familiar things along the way.
